"You're kidding, you're buying a house in Seattle..."

[mcoyote]

Yeah, we like it that much. Landlord decided to pressure us to buy his house, we started looking for new rentals when we're out in November, then went "waaiiit...we like this place...".

He's offering us a good price for this area, even factoring in the current softening market, and even if we keep most of our cash in the bank we can probably foot an affordable loan. We've looked in Wallingford, U-District, Fremont, Ravenna, Queen Anne, blah blah and even the outhouses with good roofing are going for +$400k.

Thinking that our pleasant, not-so-little hovel in our diverse West Seattle neighborhood is convenient to everything, not pounded with the bad traffic and bubbly market of things in North Seattle, and will probably be where everyone wants to buy anyway when the end of cheap loans truly shoo normal people away from up there.

And, yeah, we like Seattle.

A lot, as in we never want to leave, and it's just awesome to be able to go anywhere in a real city (when I'm coming from my house) and have a good time in <30min. I work in eastside and have associates up in Shoreline, Everett, and up as far as La Conner now and, although I like looking at the back of SUV's idling in traffic as much as the next guy, no dice.

Not really asking for anything, just thought I'd mention it.

[bizarro]

Well hell, welcome home. So I guess the commute isn't that band after all?  

[mcoyote]

Well hell, welcome home. So I guess the commute isn't that band after all?  

It is. Some things are worth enduring.

[bizarro]

[dinolee]

And, yeah, we like Seattle.

We've assimilated another one... muuuhahahahaha  

[RexRider]

Resistance is futile...  How 'bout a coffee?  


Edit to add:  Welcome to the neighborhood!  My wife and I bought in West Seattle almost three years ago now.  

[Vladimir]

Yep, same thing happened to me when I moved out here in the late 80's. About the only place I'd consider moving now would be down to the Columbia Gorge area maybe when I'm closer to retiring.  I definately fell hard for the Pacific NW, and being a military brat and then military myself I've seen most of the rest of the country, wouldn't live anywhere else!

[mcoyote]

Resistance is futile...  How 'bout a coffee?  

Umm...thx, but I'm set. What did my wife and I get each other as a 10th anniversary gift in May, do you ask (the "practical" gift, the lovey-dovey gifts are different -- and cheaper)? An 18psi automatic espresso machine . Would we have gotten this when we were living in Colorado? Rather doubt it...

WTF is it about this place? Is it, like, the last decent place in the US or what?

[bizarro]

WTF is it about this place? Is it, like, the last decent place in the US or what?

It's definitely one of them.  

[RexRider]

 

[Montyburns]

Congratulations on the new house.  My wife and I just bought a house in West Seattle too.  She works in Redmond and commented just this morning how jealous she is when she sees people fly past her in the express lanes on motorcycles while she is stuck in traffic.  She keeps talking about getting a motorcycle or scooter for the commute but I'll have none of it.  I'm fully aware of how hypocritical that sounds but if you'd seen her ride a bicycle, you'd be on my side.  

[Mrs. DantesDame]

Like Fritz said, welcome home  

Yep, I moved here 12 years ago and never looked back. In fact, one of my favorite (and oft-repeated stories) is that about 3 months after moving here I was on the bus and the woman next to me asked how long I'd been living in Seattle. My instinctive answer was "all my life"    

[highside]

Like Fritz said, welcome home  

Yep, I moved here 12 years ago and never looked back. In fact, one of my favorite (and oft-repeated stories) is that about 3 months after moving here I was on the bus and the woman next to me asked how long I'd been living in Seattle. My instinctive answer was "all my life"    

It seems like most people who werent born here claim otherwise. I suspect this has something to do with the weird xenophobic nature of the city, which is weird because the biggest xenophobes are people who immigrated themselves. Just one of the strange cultural quirks of the city I suppose, it makes the place a little less pleasant IMHO. It didnt always used to be like that.

[DNA]

Odd.  I went from growing up in Co to going to the UW and over 4 years of trying, I could never get adjusted to the rain.  Summers are the best place on earth - winters - not so nice.
It rained 19 straight days in Jan. of my senior year (many years ago) and on about day 14 I decided that my future lay elsewhere.

Glad you made the adjustment - I just couldn't do it.  Other than the wet (and the traffic) -I absolutely loved the area.  

[Mookie]

It seems like most people who werent born here claim otherwise. I suspect this has something to do with the weird xenophobic nature of the city, which is weird because the biggest xenophobes are people who immigrated themselves. Just one of the strange cultural quirks of the city I suppose, it makes the place a little less pleasant IMHO. It didnt always used to be like that.

When I tell Seattlites I'm from NC they always seem shocked I'm not a hillbilly with a crazy southern accent.  

It seems to me that the vast majority of people living in Seattle weren't born here anyways.  It's one of those places that people tend to move to in order to leave wherever it it was they grew up.  Of course, now that I've lived here 10 years I get to make fun of Californians that move here and drive up the housing costs

[highside]

When I tell Seattlites I'm from NC they always seem shocked I'm not a hillbilly with a crazy southern accent.  

It seems to me that the vast majority of people living in Seattle weren't born here anyways.  It's one of those places that people tend to move to in order to leave wherever it it was they grew up.  Of course, now that I've lived here 10 years I get to make fun of Californians that move here and drive up the housing costs

Thats pretty much how it works out here. The punchline to the story DD told is that the two strangers on a bus go on to have a conversation about the evils of all these invaders to the city. They get their purses mixed up when they get off the bus and each finds a California drivers license in the others wallet.

[Req]

Welcome.

And a big   to you for seeing the light better than I did, and not ending up in fucking Lynnwood.  West Seattle looks nicer every time I ride through there.  

[Stray Cat]

When I tell Seattlites I'm from NC they always seem shocked I'm not a hillbilly

Your not?  

 

I like West Seattle too, except for that damn bridge! It can be a hassle.....  

[Mookie]

Your not?  

 

   It's alllllll relative  

[denydog]

As a true Seattle native, Welcome mcoyote!  

It seems like most people who werent born here claim otherwise.

I was born at Virginia Mason hospital on pill hill.  As a pre-teen, I watched as I-5 was being built through my neighborhood in North Seattle. (I-5 had very little traffic for the first few years.  The cars were all like 200+ ft apart.)  I saw the excavation and first spindly legs of the Space needle go up.  The most fun I ever had was the occasional family trips to PlayLand amusement park surrounding Bitter Lake in N. Seattle (before that, it was a dog racing track).  It had a huge old timber roller coaster!  I remember the opening of the "new" Evergreen Point floating bridge, complete with toll booths.  My parents took me to the Aqua Follies at Green Lake.  I remember when jay walking was a serious crime (no kidding!) That was before we really had much real crime.   But Ivar Haglund was already an old guy to me.   When I first started traveling around the country, everyone I met assumed me, my family and everyone I knew, worked at Boeings.  I'm getting all nostalgic here    I've traveled and lived in many places around in the US and around the world.  I chose to come back to Seattle to stay.  (and not because I like my family or friends that much )

All of you who have come here to live have made a very good choice. Congratulations!

WTF is it about this place? Is it, like, the last decent place in the US or what?

You should have been here before it became popular.  It was way special then.